Supercommittee Failure is no Surprise

U. S. government deficit reduction has a failed history.

In 1985, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act (GRH) began the process by establishing deficit targets and a sequestration process requiring cuts if the limits were exceeded. As the Senate Budget Committee’s history of the budget process recounts, GRH is widely viewed as unsuccessful because it failed to reduce the deficit. While the law was intended to balance the budget by FY 1991, during FY 1986-1990 the actual deficit exceeded the target in every year. The sequestration process was also criticized after Congress proceeded to add a long list of exemptions and other gimmicks.

In November 2010 The White House’s fiscal commission’s co-chairs, Erskine Bowles and former-Senator Alan Simpson drafted their recommendations for deficit reduction.  No action taken based upon their recommendations.

More recently President Obama pinned his hopes on avoiding an unprecedented government default on a new bipartisan compromise that would raise the debt limit as part of a $3.7trillion package of spending cuts and tax changes. The compromise resulted in no spending cuts.

This latest committee was staffed with some of the most strident member of Congress.  Senator John Kyle (R) ofArizona and Senator John Kerry (D) ofMassachusetts are two of the best examples of “my way or the highway” attitude.  We all know their positions.  This new committee was doomed from day 1.

It is sad to say they cannot look across the Atlantic to see what their no compromise philosophy will bring.  Today’s stock market collapse ought to send a message but it won’t be heard.